Katherine Ross: Woman before and after Witch.
The following research was done just over a year ago, as part of continuing research I am doing for a number of projects. My work was surrounded by witches at the time and I am looking forward to updating this site with the stories that I found.
This story, however, was the one that tugged at my mind. Katherine Ross, better known as Lady Fowlis, was one of the most infamous of all witch trials in Scotland. Below is an in-depth dive into her life, as in-depth as the research into the life of a woman can be. Often, they make the shadowy figures of history, their touch visible in all things but their names, thoughts and actions often obscured by the men who champion them.
I hope you enjoy this long read and research into Katherine Ross. I have endeavoured to include as much source material as possible. The original article is on the Tain website, found here: https://www.tainmuseum.org.uk/article.php?id=173
As always, please let me know any thoughts or comments you might have.
Sx
*
I stumbled upon the work of the Tain & District Museum by chance, as part of wider research I have been doing on the area. Little did I know when I first emailed the museum asking for their expertise and insight that together we would uncover some gems of historical knowledge waiting to be discovered within their archives.
With the help of Jason Ubych over the course of numerous emails we dove into the depths 16th Century Ross-shire. I am a writer and historian and my recent work led me to the story of Katherine Ross of Balnagown, later and more famously known as Lady Fowlis, wife of Robert Mor Munro and accused witch.
a story of epic magical conspiracy involving clay effigies, elven arrowheads and the “woman’s weapon,” poison.
Many may know her story through her alleged actions leading to trial, a story of epic magical conspiracy involving clay effigies, elven arrowheads and the “woman’s weapon,” poison. Two servants would die in the aftermath from poisoning, an act that had targeted Katherine’s stepson Robert who was set to inherit and her sister-in-law Marjory. Marjory would later die, the rest of her short life disabled by the poisoning.
The details of Katherine’s life can only be found in the documents left behind, which often reflect the drama and difficulties that coloured her life. Little is known about Katherine’s early life. She was likely born sometime around 1535, the eldest daughter of Alexander Ross, 9th of Balnagown. As the eldest daughter of the leader of Clan Ross, her marriage would be a key political pawn for her male relatives in the continuing bloody struggles for power in northern Scotland. Her brother George was the first of Clan Ross to receive university education, studying at St Andrew’s University.[1] Such a move was likely calculated, educated sons and well-married daughters would both bring stability to the Ross’ position.
She likely grew up in Balnagown at the centre of the Ross homelands. Both the Urquhart’s and the Munro’s were close neighbours of Clan Ross and would have featured in domestic discussions as neighbours and their actions often do.
It appears by the early 1560s Katherine was married to Robert Mor Munro, 15th Baron of Fowlis. We do not know for certain if Robert Mor was Katherine’s first husband, but we can be quite certain that Katherine was Robert Mor’s second wife, his first being Margaret Ogilvie. The marriage would have been politically smart, a linking of two large Highland clans diplomatically through marriage. For Robert, Katherine would have brought with her significant Clan Ross lands. Even his previous marriage to Margaret seemed influenced by such matrimonial land grabs, who brought with her the lands of Wester Fowlis.[2]
Katherine would at this point become the stepmother to up to six of Margaret’s children, including Robert Munro and Hector Munro who would later become the 16th and 17th Barons of Fowlis respectively. She would give birth to her and Robert’s first son, George Munro around 1565 and together they would have around 7 children.
The details of Katherine’s experience as Lady Fowlis can only be found through the documents left behind, which often reflect the drama and difficulties that coloured her life. Most of the documents we have concern the events that led to her later trial, a story of drama, mystery and betrayal. In 1577 Katherine allegedly conspired to kill Robert Munro, her stepson, the future 16th Baron of Fowlis, and her brother George Ross’s wife, Marjory Campbell. Katherine was accused of attempting to kill both of them through the use of witchcraft, using local witches to help her towards this goal. Reasons for Katherine’s actions put forward include the reneging of an agreement with Robert Mor regarding the lands her son George was meant to inherit. Another one could be a wish for her brother to marry her stepson’s widow, thus increasing Ross power within the Munro clan. Regardless of the reasons, through the use of poisoning, collusion and intrigue a significant plot took place, resulting in the deaths of two servants and the permanent disabling of Katherine’s sister-in-law. Her stepson Robert managed to survive unharmed.
Katherine managed to escape trial and execution at this point, although others were not so lucky. A massive conspiracy took place, with King James VI himself being informed and kept abreast of the situation. At least three people were strangled and burned as witches, with more accused and questioned. Katherine appears to have managed to escape north avoid the witch-hunters wrath.
A massive conspiracy took place, with King James VI himself being informed and kept abreast of the situation. At least three people were strangled and burned as witches, with more accused and questioned.
This is where the story of Katherine often stops. Most describe her as “living a long life”, “peacefully” and “surviving her husband.” Some go into greater detail, describing Katherine’s return just over a decade later after Robert Mor’s death in 1588. Yet Katherine’s story was not over. She will not die for another 15 years, and there is still the question of what she has been doing in the previous decade, north in Caithness.
My research hinged around one question, where was she at the end of her life? Most books say little more than she died in 1615, but one mentioned more:
“On the 3rd of August, 1598, a bond is subscribed at Tain, and registered in Edinburgh on the 14th of the same month, by Hector Munro, apparent of Assint; Hugh Ross, apparent of Muldearg ; and three others, for George Sinclair of Mey, that he will not molest Katherine Ross, Lady of Fowlis, William Gordon of Brodland, her spouse ; or William Ross in Balnacnycht”[3]
This document reveals a number of unexpected things. Firstly, Hector Munro, the 17th Baron Fowlis was causing enough trouble to Katherine that she resorted to legal means to attempt to curtail him. The wording “he will not molest” can be understood as similar to a modern day restraining order.
To understand this we have to look back a decade previous, when Katherine returned to Tain. At this point Katherine’s stepson Robert Munro, the 16th Baron who she had tried to poison, sets up a trial for Katherine, eager for her to finally face the court. However in another twist, Robert dies mysteriously before the trial can begin. The case is taken up by his younger brother, Hector.
Hector himself is terrified of Katherine’s apparent witchcraft and power. He turns to local witches himself for a protection ritual, to shift the focus of any curse put on him onto another. This involves him being buried alive, with a witch running over him nine times and a call and response from the ‘lead’ witch. These descriptions sound like pre-Christian rituals, and it seems to have worked for Hector.
Hector himself is terrified of Katherine… He turns to local witches … to shift the focus of any curse put on him onto another.
This resulted in the curious case of a prosecutor also being prosecuted for using witchcraft. In 1590 both Hector and Katherine were tried and both were acquitted, a perhaps expected outcome given the social standing and power both possessed.
Yet a decade later, bygones were not bygones. Hector is still apparently harassing Katherine and her family and she has had to see legal protection. This small document gives us a sense of very deep wounds still not healed.
Katherine appears to have remarried at this point, a William Gordon of Brodland. We do not know anything more about William. While there was a William Gordon of Brodland, the 3rd Baronet of Lesmoir, he was likely 6 or 7 years old in 1598. As such this William Gordon is likely another, a not uncommon issue of old documents when many people shared very similar names.
I was eager to find exactly where Balnacnycht was, and in this search we uncovered an even greater mystery.
In George Bain’s A History of Nairnshire we see reference to a contemporary lady, going by the name Elizabeth Rose, who apparently married six times in total.[4] While this could be an unusual coincidence, the book names her first four husbands as “Urquhart of Cromarty, Munro of Foulis, Cumming of Earnside and McCulloch of Plaids.”
The names of these men match what we know of Katherine’s life very well. The Urquhart’s were the other large family of her local area. Assuming she was born around 1535 it would be unusual for her not to have married until her late 20s to Robert. Thus it is possible she had a previous husband and no issue. Thomas Urquhart is believed to have had 25 sons in total around this time, with a large number of them being killed during the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547.[5] Katherine would have been around 12 or 13 at this point, a common age of marriage especially for the eldest daughter of a significant Clan. The second husband, of course, would refer to Robert Mor Munro.
Thus the first two husbands of Elizabeth Rose match potentially match to Katherine’s lived experience. What of the next two? Cumming reflects a break with the area around Cromarty and Ross-shire, with the name commonly found in Aberdeenshire. However McCulloch isclosely associated Clan Ross and Tain itself, as the McCulloch’s were hereditary Baillies of Tain for a long time. This woman was clearly closely linked with the area of Ross-shire and her choice of husbands reflects this. At this point it is still speculation, but the sheer number of husbands suggests significant movement and upheaval in her life.
Elizabeth – or Katherine’s – fifth marriage is the focus of Bain’s interest, specifically to the Provost of Nairn, John Rose. It is unusual that his name is also Rose, although intra-clan marriages were not unheard of. At the same time, such a coincidence could be a hint that “Elizabeth Rose” is a pseudonym for sake of anonymity.
The mystery deepens with Bain mentioning that the marriage between John and Elizabeth was illegal and the marriage was dissolved. No further detail is given, Bain says no more except to mention that Elizabeth goes on to marry her sixth husband: a William Gordon of Broadland.[6]
This is the evidence we need to say with a strong degree of certainty that Elizabeth Rose and Katherine Ross were likely the same person. It would be highly unlikely for there to have been another, unknown lady, previously married to a Munro of Fowlis who later married a William Gordon of Brodland without some mention being given in at least one of the sources.
As such, through the men surrounding her, some of Katherine’s previously unknown life becomes clear. It is a typical casualty of history, that a woman at the centre of it can only be seen in the shadow’s she creates in male lives, but a deep shadow she did cast.
At the time a single woman had little to no political, economic or social power. All would come through her husband, and without one she would have been greatly disadvantaged…This succession of husbands’ were a necessary protection in a world that viewed single women as the enemy.
It is important to remember at the time a single woman had little to no political, economic or social power. All would come through her husband, and without one she would have been greatly disadvantaged, especially when we consider Katherine’s own story and the severe upheaval in her life that followed the events of 1577. This succession of husbands’ were a necessary protection in a world that viewed single women as the enemy, especially one already named as a witch.
By 1598 she was with William Gordon, living just south of Tain. She did not go back to the north and instead appears to have settled in a small area known as Balnacnycht. This village appears to no longer exist, but likely would have been close to Edderton, with most quasi-contemporary maps spelling it as “Balinich”.[7]
The shadows she cast are unclear and difficult to follow even at the best of times.
She would die in 1615, her place of death unknown. The shadows she cast are unclear and difficult to follow even at the best of times. We cannot know if she ever saw her children again or if she enjoyed the company of her husbands, we have no notes from her or ideas of her thoughts.
We know, at least, that her life came in a full circle. Balnacnycht was next to the ancestral home of Clan Ross, Ardmore House: the scene of the poisoning that led her life in a very different direction. Thus at the very end, Katherine seems to have been near to home, with the good and the bad that would bring.
Katherine Ross’s story has been told many times. It will continue to be told, alongside all the other tales of witches we hear, from MacBeth to Wicked. But behind each of these inspirations lies a real person, a woman facing very real dangers in very real circumstances. Katherine Ross was luckier than most, a new marriage and a new name were enough to hide her forever in the folds of history. If only all others were as fortunate as her.
[1] MacKinnon, Donald. (1957). pp. 19–20
[2] MacKinnon, Donald. (1957) p.44
[3] [3] MacKinnon, Donald. (1957). p.71and MacKenzie Alexander 1898 p.71-2 https://archive.org/details/historyofmunroso00mack/page/70/mode/2up
[4] History of Nairnshire p.240 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/History_of_Nairnshire/oYILAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Lady+of+Fowlis+William+Gordon+of+Brodland&pg=PA241&printsec=frontcover
[5] Way, George and Squire, Romily. Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 336 - 337.
[6] Bain Nairnshire p.241
[7] https://maps.nls.uk/view/00000301 Accessed 8/04/2022 https://maps.nls.uk/view/00000280
